The Consequences of the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain (the Standard of Living Debate) and the Free Trade Era in Europe.
Lecture 11: The Consequences of the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain (The Standard of Living Debate) and the Free Trade Era in Europe.
I. The Consequences of the Industrial Revolution: The Standard of Living Debate. What happened to living standards during the Industrial Revolution? From today’s perspective, over 200 years later, most people would say that industrialization has raised living standards dramatically from those that prevailed in the 1700s. In fact, there is general agreement among scholars that from 1850 forward, the standard of living in the West improved. The debate centers on what happened between 1760 and 1850.
Positive Negative Higher wages due to Displacement of higher productivity Some Groups (Handloom weavers)
Lower prices for Rigid work Manufactured goods Schedules
Employment in factories Conditions in factories Urbanization A. Real Wages. Service pay records from govt. wage data from factory records, household surveys and budgets, adjusted for price indicies, but not really true purchasing power.
1. Substantial increases only after 1820. But from 1820-50 real wage increased est. 155%
2. Problems with real wage indices as a measure of the standard of living. Disamenities of working in factory and crowded urban area.
B. Consumption. Mokyr (1988) examines the consumption of imported small luxury items: sugar, tea, tobacco, and coffee.
1. Why look at this? Because they are wholly imported/ Carefully recorded customs duties. Mostly consumed in households
2. Findings? Little change in per capita consumption until 1840s, then increases. Consumption increases lagged wage increases
C. Biological Indicators of the Standard of Living. More
I. The Consequences of the Industrial Revolution: The Standard of Living Debate. What happened to living standards during the Industrial Revolution? From today’s perspective, over 200 years later, most people would say that industrialization has raised living standards dramatically from those that prevailed in the 1700s. In fact, there is general agreement among scholars that from 1850 forward, the standard of living in the West improved. The debate centers on what happened between 1760 and 1850.
Positive Negative Higher wages due to Displacement of higher productivity Some Groups (Handloom weavers)
Lower prices for Rigid work Manufactured goods Schedules
Employment in factories Conditions in factories Urbanization A. Real Wages. Service pay records from govt. wage data from factory records, household surveys and budgets, adjusted for price indicies, but not really true purchasing power.
1. Substantial increases only after 1820. But from 1820-50 real wage increased est. 155%
2. Problems with real wage indices as a measure of the standard of living. Disamenities of working in factory and crowded urban area.
B. Consumption. Mokyr (1988) examines the consumption of imported small luxury items: sugar, tea, tobacco, and coffee.
1. Why look at this? Because they are wholly imported/ Carefully recorded customs duties. Mostly consumed in households
2. Findings? Little change in per capita consumption until 1840s, then increases. Consumption increases lagged wage increases
C. Biological Indicators of the Standard of Living. More